Khalil Gibran once said the following:
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
True giving is when you give of yourself.
For what are your possessions other than mere things that you keep and guard in fear of future destitution?
And do you know what tomorrow shall bring? What difference would it make if a terribly self-possessed dog, following the pilgrims on the way to the holy city, buried a bone beneath the burning sand?
And what is the fear of need but merely the need itself?
Is it not the most unquenchable of thirsts, dreading thirst when your well is full to the brim?
There are those who give little of the much they have, and they give it merely for vanity.
And their hidden desires make their gifts unwholesome.
Then there are those who have very little, yet they give it all away.
These are the believers in life, and their coffers are never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their full reward.
And there are those who give in suffering, because the waters they were baptized in were contaminated with suffering.
There are those who give neither in suffering nor in the seeking of joy, not even considering the virtue of giving.
These are the ones who just give, like the violets releasing their pleasant odor into the hills.
Through the hands of such does God speak, and through their eyes, he smiles upon Earth.
It’s good to give when asked, but it’s even better to give without being asked, through understanding.
And to the open-handed, the search for the one who shall receive is a joy greater than giving.
Is there anything that an individual can possess for eternity?
What you have today shall someday be passed on to others.
So, why not choose the season of giving for yourself rather than leave it to your inheritors?
You keep saying, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”
But that’s not what the trees in your orchard or the flocks in your pasture say.
They give to live, because if they did not, they would perish and die.
Surely he who is considered worthy of living through the days and the nights is worthy of what you can give.
He who is considered worthy of drinking from the ocean of life is worthy of filling a glass from your tiny stream.
What greater drought is there than the desert where lies the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
Who are you that men should reveal their bosom and unveil their pride, so that you may see if they are worthy?
First see whether you are worthy of giving.
For in truth, it is life that gives unto life, and while you consider yourself the true giver, you are nothing but a mere witness.
And you receivers, as you all are, never carry the weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon the person who gives.
May what is given be wings for both you and for the giver, so you may rise together.
For if you fill your mind with the grave weight of gratitude, then you would doubt the generosity of the giver, who has accepted the free-hearted Earth as a mother and the eternal skies as a father…
